Bridgeport shaper head

Be sure to get the cutters with the head if he has them. The cutters are pricey and hard to find. If the head is in decent condition that is a good price. I had a chance to get one at $250 and passed it up. :nuts: Would not pass on another one.
 
It isn't hard to make your own cutters. If I recall,my slitter has a 5/8 round hole. I took rectangular or square 01 steel and turned the end to fit the hole to make the wood chisels. If I wanted to make steel cutting tools,I'd just make a 5/8" holder from drill rod,with a round hole in the center to fit the corners of square HSS lathe bits. I'd put a couple of set screws in the round adapter and harden and draw it. Then,it would be easy to grind the HSS lathe tools to fit your needs.

I was also VERY lucky to find a Volstro slotting head(brand new) for $500.00 at Cabin Fever years ago. They cost,what? $3000.00? The grease in mine had never been disturbed. It slips over the spindle of my Bridgeport type mill,and has a 1" stroke,not adjustable,but handy for smaller work. It accepts standard HSS lathe tools which you grind as needed. I just save the Bridgy head for plane making. The Volstro is quicker to mount than swiveling the ram around. They are pretty rare,though,and no longer in business. I love my Volstro circular milling attachment,too. All their things were very expensive,and designed for light machining.
 
Thanks! It did take some head scratching to figure out a method of cutting those multi faceted plane escapements,with the standard type equipment I had. There had to be some place for the chisel to cut THROUGH to. If it hit the bottom of a blind hole,it just bonked. Therefore,we first turned the planes upside down at a 45º angle and routed a deep cut that came up to the "bend" in the front edge of the escapement. The planes were drilled out as much as possible with forester bits(flat bottom holes). Then,the chisel could cut the front slant and run into the space created by the router bit. Then,the plane was turned around and the incline where the blade would lay was sliced all the way to the bottom of the sole. The chisel cuts lined up perfectly with the routed opening. We just took off a very light skin of a cut to eliminate any router marks. You can see straight chisel looking cuts in the top view of the jack plane,which were as if the plane was hand chiseled. The sides of the escapement,where the wedge fits,were cut with very coarse saws(floats) we made from D2. They had very coarse teeth 1/4" apart. But,held rigidly in the slitter,they cut very smooth with a clean,swishing sound. We changed angles to taper these slots. These thick saws went clear through the plane and out the bottom(sole),squaring up the corners where the router bit was used.

The slightly tapered sides of the escapement were quickly chiseled by hand. The "eyes" at the top of the escapement were also hand chiseled.
 
I spoke with the guy about the shaper head. He said he has cleaned it up and it looks brand new. I bought an old Reid surface grinder a couple months ago and it has been at a friends house. I got it loaded in the back of my truck yesterday which was an experience. I waited until today to unload it and ran out of time to go see the shaper. I told him if he has it next saturday I'll probaly go ahead and buy it from him. I'm still on the fence about it. I need a bandsaw a whole lot worse but that's a good deal. If I don't decide to get it I'll post the link to see if anybody here wants it.
 
TomG said:
I would pass. That's a lot of money to tie up in something that will spend most of it's time collecting dust. You can do the same thing for the occasional job with a tool held in the spindle of your mill, it just takes longer.
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Phils69,

Hurry and buy it. Sounds like Tomg is going to try and beat you to it.:lmao:

Benny
The Orphanage Never Closes
 
LOL. If he wasn't 1000 miles away I'd be worried. I figure if it's still there by Saturday it was meant to be. I can always use the saws at work for a while longer.
 
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